Slayer Gothic - Wishverse
Part 14
Hogwarts. Magical Britain.
Not long after meeting the Minister of Magic, Dumbledore served tea and tiny sandwiches as we sat in his office, discussing things. This was still all a bit strange for me even after years of adventures involving the supernatural and otherwise fantastic. However I hid it rather well, and something pretty impressive would have to happen in order to make me visibly react.
"How goes the Horcrux hunt?" I enquired of the old man.
Dumbledore stroked his massive amount of facial fair, getting rid of some crumbs, before speaking.
"All of them have been destroyed, only Voldemort's pet snake remains" the Headmaster told me "Voldemort keep the snake with him at all times".
And because I'd removed the bit of Riddle's soul from Harriet Potter she couldn't use the connection to locate the reptile, which also had a bit of soul Riddle soul stuck in it. Still there were other ways to find the snake, and I had some ideas already.
"That could be a problem" I said "Unless he's hanging out in base that you already know about".
Perhaps Riddle Manor, which he'd used as a hideout in the fourth book. I could go check that place out once I'd recovered my flying motorcycle from back in Sunnydale. I didn't think he'd actually be there, but it wouldn't take long to find out for certain.
"We are looking" the Headmaster told me "And at least we can be fairly sure that he can't make any more Horcruxs, I doubt he has much soul left".
If he did they were in trouble because I'd have no knowledge of that Horcrux and if Voldemort had any sense at all he'd turn a stone into a horcrux and dump it at the bottom of a very deep lake. Of course he would never do that as his ego wouldn't allow it.
"While I have you here I wanted to give you something" Dumbledore was now telling me "I think this will settle our bill, as the Muggles would say".
A box floated across the desk and when I opened it I found the most beautiful of daggers within it.
"Goblin silver, 18th century" the Headmaster told me "Something a friend left me, but I have no use for such things. However a hunter of dark creatures might. Not that I approve of killing of course".
It was a lovely looking weapon, and I knew that Goblin made blades absorbed things that made them stronger while repelling things that didn't. Which could come in handy if I stabbed some demons with if they had toxic blood it wouldn't damage the blade and would make it more lethal a weapon.
"Thank you" I said, after returning the dagger to its box "I'll take good care of it".
Dumbledore smiled a little.
"I'm sure you will" he said, before changing the subject "On another matter. Young Harriet has been talking about you non-stop. I'm sure she'd like a visit. I can finish dealing with the Minister, now that's he had time to calm down a little".
He'd be doing some damage control I didn't doubt. The Minister would need it after I'd ruffled his feathers by explained how to actually a fight a war.
"You can use the floo network to get there" said the Headmaster as he stood up "I'm sure you know the address".
Since I'd been summoned to the Headquarters by Dumbledore he might as well have given me the address. And while I would like to pop over right now I needed to do something first. Then I could go see her.
(Line Break)
Riddle Manor. England.
Lord Voldemort, A.K.A. Tom Riddle was sitting on his stone throne, considering his next moves in the war. He was highly incensed at his followers' failure to procure or hear the prophecy. More importantly, through their incompetence, he had been forced to reveal himself to that idiot Fudge much sooner than he had intended.
And, on top of all that, he had taxed himself severely, both in the duel with Dumbledore and with the possession of Potter. He had been forced to take a number of strengthening potions and restorative draughts to recuperate from that. His recovery was aided, however, by the fact that his body wasn't really a body as such; instead, it was a magical construct.
Leaning back on his throne while idly twirling his wand in his fingers, he reflected on the past year. It had been very entertaining to watch the Daily Prophet slander and ridicule Dumbledore and Potter over the intervening months since his resurrection.
After Potter had escaped, he had been very angry for a time. Later, though, he'd realised that it was part of a pattern. Potter had gotten lucky far too many times. After considering things, Voldemort decided that maybe it wasn't entirely luck, that maybe it was the prophecy coming into play. With this new idea in mind, he had instructed Severus to try and dig into the magical connection he and Potter shared to see if there was any way it could be manipulated.
It wasn't until this past Christmas that he'd even realised that there was a connection between himself and the girl. He had been inside Nagini while she scouted out the entrance to the Department of Mysteries, and had felt another presence within the snkae when she had bitten that idiot Arthur Weasley.
Later Voldemort had planted a vision in Potter's head about her godfather being held captive in the Hall of Prophecy. Potter had come, but then the plan had gotten derailed slightly, because Potter had brought a few of her friends along with her, and the Order had been alerted. This had resulted in twelve of his best Death Eaters being captured and the loss of the prophecy.
Then when he'd sent his remaining Death Eaters, their ranks having been depleted due to the disaster at the Ministry, to attack Potter directly and that had only made things worse. Any defences at that house in Surrey had faded away to nothing, so his minions should have been able to drag that girl to him. Only they'd failed, and one of them had died because Dumbledore had summoned up some warrior from another world.
This would not stand. The Dark Lord was defeated. Sure many of his followers were now locked up, but he could recruit more, and once his ranks were swelled he'd take Azkaban, and free all his followers. Then those who opposed him would pay in blood.
He would gather his minions and plan the attack.
(Line Break)
Riddle Manor. England.
I'd landed the flying motorcycle some distance away and I was now making my way slowly across the grounds of Riddle Manor. I could see a light on and I could sense the supernatural goings on here. Very dark mojo if I was any judge.
As I got closer to the house I could hear voices, and the sense of darkness got stronger. I could soon hear voices, and once I had climbed the wall, so that I could peek inside. While I was able to sense the darkness I wanted to make sure that this was the Death Eater base before taking any action.
It wouldn't do to destroy the place only to find out that the Death Eaters had moved on, and I'd just blown up some otherwise homeless guy who just happened to be squatting in a place with a dark aura. Not that I need to have worried as there were a bunch of guys in black robes having a meeting in an old abandoned house.
My Slayer senses allowed me to hear what was going on, they were planning an attack on someone I couldn't care less about. I'd come here to find out if the Dark Lord and his minions still used this place as a base of operations, and they were.
They had next to no security, and they didn't seem to notice that I was watching them. Perhaps they had defences to keep out Wizards as well as Muggles, and those magics simply didn't work on me since I was neither of those things. Still it seemed foolish that they were using this place as a base of operations despite the fact that it must have been exposed as their hideout sometime ago.
I'd figured out that they could be here so Dumbledore must know, so why hadn't the Aurors swarmed this place? No wonder the so called good guys and the Ministry were losing this war. They must be so scared of Voldemort that they weren't willing to go on the offensive, well I was fine with doing that.
When I saw the Dark Lord himself I nearly lost my grip on the windowsill, the dude was ugly, my Slayer senses really went haywire, and he had a huge snake with him. Which meant if I could take this place out I'd get the last Horcrux as well as Riddle at the same time. Well the Prophecy might require Harriet to become involved, but that could be arranged.
(Line Break)
12 Grimmauld Place. The Wizarding World.
"I wish I could come with you" Harriet said to me.
Her naked form was sprawled over me as we'd laid on her bed, a little sweaty as we cuddled after the hot sex we'd just had. For a girl who'd been a virgin until recently she was quite eager to please a man, or maybe she just wanted to please me. If so then training her shouldn't be a problem.
"You can" I told her "I can open a portal for two".
She ran her hand over my chest, feeling the hair.
"I can't leave my friends, not with Voldemort around" she stated.
Yes he was an issue.
"We'll just have to kill him then" I decided.
I'd been thinking about how to do that.
"Yeah I'll just go and defeat him" Harriet said with a smile "should only take me a few decades to get to his level".
From her perspective I could see why it might seem like such a daunting task.
"I know where he is" I told Harriet "We could go blow him up".
The young witch laughed.
"Sure because you just happen to have a nice big bomb handy" she kidded.
Well I didn't, but I knew where to get that kind of fire power from.
"No bombs" I said "That would involve sneaking in and planting it. Some sort of artillery strike from a distance would be better".
Harriet laughed again, and looked at me, then she stopped smiling.
"You're serious aren't you?" she asked.
I smiled.
"No that's your godfather" I replied "I'm Damien, and I'm not joking".
Harriet now looked concerned.
"You really want to blow him up?" she asked me.
I nodded.
"You forget that I can pretty much go anywhere I want so getting a heavy enough weapon won't be the problem" I was now saying "And I know someone smart enough to use those kind of weapons".
Harriet was now staring at me.
"You really want to go out and blow up Voldemort?" she asked "Really kill him".
I nodded.
"If we move quickly it could be done in a few hours" I said.
Harriet looked down at her naked body, which I'd used for my pleasure rather well.
"I'm going to have to get dressed" she moaned.
That would be the down side to all of this.
(Line Break)
Riddle Manor. England.
Harriet Potter would soon turn seventeen, in fact it would be midnight and her birthday very soon, and should all go well it would be best birthday she'd ever have, and not just because she was getting to spend it with both her boyfriend, who was a fighter of evil, and also her best friend, Hermione Granger, who'd tagged along on this very strange adventure.
It would be best because soon she'd be free of Lord Voldemort, as he was about get blown up, assuming that Fred, one of her boyfriends other girlfriends, which was something she'd have to get used to, could get the weird machine working any time soon.
Hermione was trying to help, bless her, however the machine was some sort of futuristic tech from another version of Earth, a rather unpleasant world, which she'd gotten to see a little of as they drove from world to world in a Jeep that could fit into Damien's portals.
Looking over the manual Harriet discovered that this weapon launched something called mini nukes. The mini nuke was a football-sized tactical nuclear warhead designed for use in a nuclear catapult weapon called the Fat Boy, which didn't look at all fat.
According to the manual the mini nuke projectile was very heavy, and if simply fired straight ahead, it would only travel only a short distance before falling to the ground and detonating. Which wasn't what they wanted right now as all four of them would caught in the blast.
The weapon could be fired at an upward angle in order to catapult the mini nuke further, so that it would impact a target at a safer distance, while only harming the people you wanted dead, and while it could be fired from the shoulder by someone in what was called powered armour, they were using it as a mortar of sorts, which required a lot more set up.
From what Harriet understood this would increase the range drastically and if aimed right it should take out the whole of Riddle Manor. The young woman called Fred, not to be confused with George's twin, was using a small computer that she'd gotten from the other world to aim the device. The shot had to be perfect in order to maximise the damage.
Harriet didn't want to kill anyone, but while getting this weapon, which had involved a lot of trading of goods, Damien had made a sound argument for making this strike. He'd pointed out that while killing all these people might seemed horrible it would actually save lives in the long run as these Death Eaters were planning an attack, they would take out whole families if given the chance, and they would keep killing until someone stopped them.
Sure they could be locked up in prison, but many of them had been contained in Azkaban, and Voldemort had freed them, and he could do so again. Plus he'd reminded her many Death Eaters had after the last war been able to bribe their way out of jail. There was no reason why they'd not be able to do that again.
So it made sense that to take out all the remaining bad guys while they could and end the war before a lot of innocent people were killed. She just wasn't sure if she could press the button when the time came.
"We're ready to go" Fred reported to Damien "Just press the button and that whole house will go boom".
The Slayer looked at the Girl-Who-Lived.
"With the prophecy still in effect it has to be you" Damien told her.
Harriet leaned down and almost pressed the button.
"She can't do it" said Hermione.
Harriet bit her lip and dressed the button, the mini-nuke flew through the air and struck the manor, blowing it pieces in a small nuclear inferno. It was almost pretty in a strange way.
"Well that should be the end of Voldemort" Damien said "Even if his spirit somehow survived he has no minions and no horcruxes left. We can check to see if the snake is really dead too".
Fred put on a pair of funny looking goggles.
"Once it cools off I check the area for anything living" she told the group.
It was highly unlikely that anything had survived, but there was no sense taking chances.
"What do we do now?" Harriet wondered.
Damien smiled at her.
"Well if I were I'd get some sleep, and tomorrow I'll take you somewhere nice" her boyfriend said "You can crash at mine for a few days. I'm getting a new place so I'll have room for you".
Harriet thought that sounded nice. She could do with some time away.
(Line Break)
Lunch Room. Sunnydale High.
Of all the places I could have taken Harriet Potter she for some insane reason decided to take me up on an earlier offer and spend some time living as an American High School Student. She was even going shopping at the mall after school with Buffy and Tara, just like a more normal seventeen year old girl would.
Which was good for me as giving Harriet the chance to see what life would be like for her if she lived with me full time might bring her round to the idea of becoming part of my harem, but I still found this strange. We could have spent the day on some tropical island if that was what she had desired.
So far her High School experience had involved, going to class, gossiping with Tara and Buffy, neither of which were normally ones for gossip, but they were doing their best to make Harriet feel welcome. Judging by this and the other things she'd gotten up to today I figured that for the Girl-Who-Lived getting to be a somewhat normal girl for a few hours was a big treat.
"What are you drawing?" Tara asked me.
"Zeppelins" I answered "I'm just jotting down some notes".
While shovelling food into my mouth I'd been writing down a few ideas for the future and drawing some crude pictures as well. The notes and images were all about the worlds I'd like to visit and the resources I'd like to acquire, including better means of transport. I didn't think I'd go with another space ship any time soon, but there were other forms of transport that might suit my needs.
Fred wasn't devoting as much effort into portals in this time line, as we didn't need them as much, however the work was progress well because this time I'd more knowledge on the subject and could guide her down the right path. At some point she'd need a real lab, and when we got to LA she'd get one.
Which meant for now I was limited to the portals I could make, and I didn't think that it would be possible to drive anything bigger than a RV through one. So my plans of a dimension jumping Zeppelin would take a while to be fully realised.
At least acquiring such a means of transport wouldn't be hard as airships of many kinds were common enough on alternate versions of Earth and with the magic I had access to, I could hire people to enchant the airship, should it work out the air ship would fly due to being powered by magic and go through portals.
"Is that a Zeppelin flying through a portal?" Buffy asked.
Given the poor state of my drawing she had to know me really well in order to have guessed that
"Yeah, but I don't think it will work" I told her "the portals aren't big enough, but we might be able to get a RV through a portal if we can use magic to toughen it up".
I felt certain that there were ways to do that with wand magic and Old One spells.
"It will be a bit of a squeeze and I'm worried about going off road" I was now saying "But it might work".
Harriet learned forward.
"How about space expanding charms to make the RV bigger on the inside. I can't do the spells" she said "So we'll have to find someone who can can".
I was sure that I could hire someone to do that sort of work. I'd have to test run the vehicle before letting anyone else in it. However should it work we'd be able to travel to alternate versions of Earth. The hard part would be coming out of the portal on a road and not causing a multi car pile up, which I'd risked in the past. Hence why I'd wanted to use an airship since there is far less to crash into when your up in the sky.
"Maybe the Zeppelin will work if you make the portals bigger" Tara said to me "If you practice the spell and focus on what you want I bet you can make much bigger portals, and they are already smoother than they used to be".
She was right. While magic wasn't the most dependable of talents it was like other talents in that you could only perfect through practice. The more comfortable and familiar you were with a spell the more dependable it was. Plus my spells came from a patron who seemed to like me.
Still there would be limits. I'd never be able to move a space ship that way as while I didn't power the spells casting them still placed a strain on me. A portal big enough to move an entire space ship from one universe to another would likely be fatal.
However if I drove larger forms of transport through the portals, and worked my way up to the airship I might actually be able to it. Of course I'd have really pace myself when opening portals that big as it would tax me. If I didn't then casting such spells could harm me.
"We'd have to find a kind of airship that's easy to fly" I was now saying to the group "And it would have to work by magic since refuelling it any other way would draw a lot of attention".
The whole group was now thinking about it.
"I don't think that even in my world we have anything that big which can fly" said Harriet "Then again maybe they do exist in my world. I've not seen that much of it".
While the Internet was awful in this primitive world it did exist so maybe I could find something online. Some fiction that we could visit in reality and get an airship in it.
"Why don't people fly around in airships here?" Buffy wondered.
I actually knew why.
"Mostly its due to planes being much faster and cheaper" I said to her "Planes use up a lot more fuel, which means more pollution, but the airlines can cram people on a plane and get them where there going in a mater of hours. Plus there's the Hindenburg. Like the Concorde, it was the fastest way to cross the Atlantic in its day, making the journey in two and a half days. That was fast back then, but it was expensive, so only the rich could afford to fly on airship and the Hindenburg crashed. It was recorded on camera, and when people saw it they were put off airships".
Buffy was confused.
"But lots of planes have crashed" she said.
"There is another reason" I told her "Paul Von Hindenburg, who the Hidenburg airship was named after was President of Germany until 1934. The Nazis, who were involved in airship manufacture named it after him, and he was involved in Hilter's rise to power so people connected airships to Nazis which didn't help with their popularity".
Buffy sighed.
"Nazis ruin everything" she stated.
No one could argue with that.
"Do you think we can do it by graduation?" Tara asked me "Then we travel a lot over the summer, not just around the country".
That would be cool. Flying to different versions of Earth in our enchanted airship, which we'd need to make invisible.
"No reason why we can't try" I said "And with space expanding charms we could all fit in the airship, take plenty of stuff with us and have room for loot. We'd need somewhere to store it when we're at home, or we can find a version of Earth devoid of people to keep it in. The airship would be like a mobile base for us when we want to travel".
It was an appealing idea.
"I'd love to go with you, but I'd miss too much school" Harriet was saying.
While the difference in time wasn't that extreme between this world and hers they were still weeks ahead of us so by the time the summer holidays started here she'd be going back to school.
"Why bother with school when you can learn the magic of other worlds" I debated "Think all of all the cool stuff and the knowledge you could bring back to your world after having adventures with us. Its not like you'll need a job anyway as you'll have plenty of money if you stick around with me. With enough looting you'll be set for life because all we need to do is find one world were all the people were killed and raid its gold deposits".
If I wanted a lot of gold I'd just go to a version of Earth that had been overrun by zombies and raid that world's version of Fort Knox.
"I'm not sure what to do" Harriet admitted.
While I could understand her concerns it wasn't me or any of my girls that she needed to get any advice from. Now that Voldemort was gone she wasn't really the Chosen One any more and that had changed her destiny. And when you're unsure of your destiny there was only one person who could you.
Harriet Potter needed to go see the Host.
(Line Break)
Caritas. LA
"So I go and sing on stage in front of monsters and then some green guy will tell what I'm meant to do now that Voldemort is gone" Harriet summed up as we walked inside the club "And I thought my world was weird".
I'd seen places stranger than either her dimension or the one I currently called home, but most people weren't like me.
"That's it" I told her "Go sing, and a demon called Lorne will see your destiny, and he'll hopefully tell you what you need to feel fulfilled in your life".
For me it was all about being a warrior, fighting evil, saving people, looting, becoming more powerful and getting to bang hot chicks. It was actually a lot of fun, and unlike most people I knew that I really mattered in the grand scheme of things.
"I don't think they'll have anything by the Weird Sisters" Harriet said, sounding nervous "Do you know any Muggle songs I could sing?".
While I did she didn't need my help.
"The machine knows any song you know" I told her "Just go up there and think about the song you want the machine will do the rest".
It either got the lyrics from you or it had every songs ever written stored on it. Given how much magic in this world had to do with affecting memory I figured it was the former rather than the later.
"Just go over to the stage and sing your heart out" I instructed Harriet "It's worth it trust me".
When she got up there and started singing I had no idea what song it was she'd chosen, but she sang it well, expressing herself and that was what really mattered to Lorne when it came to reading people.
This one's going out to all the lovers out there.
Hold each other tight, and keep each other warm.
And dance your final dance
This is your final chance
To hold the one you love
You know you've waited long enough
So, believe
That magic works
Don't be afraid
Of bein' hurt
Don't let this magic die
The answer's there
Oh, just look in her eyes
And make your final move
Mmm, don't be scared, she wants you to
Yeah, it's hard, you must be brave
Don't let this moment slip away
Now, believe
That magic works
And don't be afraid
Afraid of bein' hurt
No, don't let this magic die
Ooh, the answer's there
Yeah, just look in her eyes
And don't believe that magic can die
No, no, no, this magic can't die
So dance your final dance
'Cause this is your final chance
"Oh honey oh baby!" shouted Lorne when he came over to our table with a couple of drinks "You've had quite the life haven't you. Now your dragon's been slain, and your ready to drive off into the sunset".
While the drinking age was 21 in the USA, this was a demon bar so Lorne didn't care that neither of us were old enough. If the police every raided this place it wouldn't be because they were looking for underage drinkers.
"I guess" replied Harriet "But where do I drive off to?".
Lorne sat down and gave the witch one his smiles that always put people at ease. He had his ways of charming people.
"Well that's up to you sugar cube" he said "You've kind of peaked early I know, but on the plus side that means you're free to do as you please. You can home, marry and make babies, or you can keep having your adventures its up to you. Just make sure you chose for yourself. Your whole life has been about other people telling you want to do or where to go. Now you have to decide for yourself, I'm not sure which will be harder".
That was it apparently. Lorne got up and left, and while he'd not spoken much I figured that he'd told Harriet what she needed to hear.
"So I can just leave" Harriet was now saying, mostly to herself it seemed "and then go back if I want to. Its up to me".
Indeed it was.
"But what about my exams?" she wondered.
I had smile as that concern seemed so silly.
"Just hire a tutor" I suggested "I bet the Ministry can have you do the exams with them".
Her look told me that she hadn't considered that.
"We can fake the paperwork so that you can come to college with Buffy, Tara and I, if that is what you fancy" I let Harriet know "The courses we're doing are pretty basic for beginners and not based on stuff learned in High School so you wouldn't behind. And you can drop out if you don't like it".
Harriet smiled.
"Okay I'll stick with you" she decided "I can always take my NEWTs when I get back".
Hearing this pleased me greatly.
"Let's get some drinks before we go back" I decided "We need to celebrate".
Adding another girl to my harem was worth forking out for a bottle of champagne.